Five Years
by stingzgolf04
Summary: Kids, a wife, a house. Who knew five year after Nick was buried alive his life would be getting better everyday?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em. Well, except for the kids.

A/N: This takes place five years after Greave Danger.

­­

Nick woke to the sound of a baby crying. He was confused on where he was. 'Oh yeah. I remember now.' Nick thought as he smiled and tightened his grip on the sleeping figure beside him: his wife. He had been dreaming of the last five years since 'The Incident' or at least that's what the rest of the team called it around him. Nick knew they did it so as not to bring back all the memories of being stuck in that damned box. But after five years, he still shuddered at the thought of it.

"Nick, honey."

"Yeah?" Nick smiled again. He still couldn't believe that in the last five years he had married his best friend, moved into a house, and had two kids. 'Two. Wow.' Nick thought.

"Can you go see what he needs, please?" Sara asked sleepily as she rolled over to find a better position.

"Sure." Nick got out of bed and at once missed the comfort it provided. He walked out of their bedroom and across the hall to where the nursery was.

"Hey buddy. What's wrong?" Nick asked his son as he picked him up. It still amazed Nick how big his little man had gotten in just two months.

Once he felt his father pick him up, little Alexander Stokes stopped crying and smiled.

"You just wanted to be picked up, huh." Nick started making funny faces at Alex, successfully making him laugh. "Yeah Daddy, I just wanted some attention." Nick said in baby talk.

Nick walked over to the other side of the room and sat down in the rocking chair. 'Let's see if he'll go back to sleep' Nick thought to himself.

They just sat there looking at each other, while Nick rocked in the chair. After a few minutes, Nick realized Alex wasn't tired and didn't want to go back to sleep.

"Okay, little man. Let's go see Mommy." Nick said standing up, while grabbing the blanket draped over the chair with his free hand. He then proceeded back across the hall with Alex in his arms.

"What did he need?" Sara asked rolling over to look at Nick.

"Just some quality time with his mommy and daddy." He said to Sara before looking down to say, "Isn't that right?"

Alex started making baby noises as Nick set him in the middle of their bed and then crawled in himself, therefore putting Alex between him and Sara. "I figured he can lay there and we can get a few more minutes."

"Okay." Sara said giving one of her fingers to Alex as he could wrap his hand around it.

Nick and Sara fell back asleep with Alex just lying there wide-awake but content for now. It wasn't until their three-year-old daughter Maddie ran in and jumped onto the bed yelling "Mommy! Daddy!", which startled Alex and he started crying again, that Nick and Sara woke up again.

"Maddison Elizabeth Stokes!"

At the tone of her mother's voice and the fact that she had said her whole name, Maddie knew she was in trouble. "Sorwry Mommy." She pouted, sitting down on the bed with her legs crossed.

Sara picked Alex up and tried to calm his nerves. "Shhh. It's okay. Yeah, it's just your sissy." Sara then turned to her daughter saying, "What do you say to your brother Maddie?"

"Sorwry Awex." Maddie said letting him have one of her fingers.

Nick sat back and took this all in. It never ceased to amaze him what their three-year-old did and he started laughing.

"What's so funny, honey?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, what's so funny Daddy?" Maddie repeated.

"Y'all. Our little family. The Stokes Clan." Nick said with a smile, "Group hug!"

"Yay!" Maddie yelled.

Nick leaned to give his two favorite women a hug while being mindful of Alex still in Sara's arms. After a minute they all let go.

"I hungwy." Maddie said dramatically patting her stomach.

"Okay, munchkin." Nick said tosseling her hair, "Whatcha want?"

"Pancakes! Pancakes!" she yelled getting off the bed.

Nick and Sara laughed, as they watched her bounce toward the kitchen yelling "Pancakes, pancakes!" the whole way. Nick stood to follow her and then leaned back down kissing Sara and taking Alex form her arms.

"Why don't you go take a shower and I'll watch the kids?"

"Okay. Thanks, honey." Sara said as she got out of bed and headed toward the bathroom.

Nick walked in the kitchen grabbing Alex's bouncy chair from the living room on the way. He placed the chair on the floor between the kitchen and dining room so that he could keep an eye on Alex and still make breakfast.

Then he put Alex in the chair just before Maddie dropped something on the floor. The pan, or at least that's what Nick thought she dropped, made a big crashing noise, which made Alex and Maddie start to cry. Apparently it landed on her foot and it had just startled Alex. 'Oh, my. What have I gotten myself into.' Nick thought. Nick turned around to see if Maddie was alright. She was sitting on the floor with the skillet on her right foot. Nick picked up the pan, put it on the counter, and picked Maddie up, setting her next to the pan on the counter.

"It's okay honey." Nick said trying to comfort his little girl.

"I hurt my toes, Daddy." Maddie said in her child lingo through her tears.

"Do you want me to kiss 'em?" Nick asked looking at her toes to see if she really hurt them bad.

"Pwease." Maddie said sniffling.

"Okay." Nick bent over to kiss her toes but at the same time found her ticklish spot, which wasn't hard since it was the same spot on Sara, and started tickling her. What didn't expect was for Maddie to start thrashing around with his face still at her feet and she kicked him in the nose.

"Ow!" Nick said putting Maddie on the ground and then putting his hand up to his nose. Sure enough she had done the trick; his nose started bleeding.

"Sowry Daddy." Maddie said with a pout as Nick reached for a napkin.

"Ow. Oh, that hurts." Nick said holding the napkin to his nose. He looked down at Maddie to tell her it was okay, but he was too late. Her eyes were tearing up and her lip was quivering.

"Hey. It's okay you didn't hurt Daddy too bad." But it was no use she started crying again.

This was how Sara walked in on them. Alex was crying in his chair, Maddie was crying harder at Nick's feet, and Nick was trying to comfort her while trying to keep his nose pinched with a napkin. She bent down and picked up Alex, who stopped crying once he was in her arms.

"Nick, uh, what's going on in here?"

"Uh, well, Maddie dropped the pan on her foot, I kissed her toes, started tickling her and she accidentally kicked me in the nose." Nick said.

Sara walked over to where Maddie was on the floor and picked her up too. Somehow Sara managed to hold both of them, how Nick did not know, but Maddie kept crying.

"Hey, honey. What's wrong?" Sara asked her.

"I hurt Daddy." Maddie said through her tears.

"Hey, hey. I'm okay. Look." Nick's nose had finally stopped bleeding and this seemed to cheer the little girl up.

Maddie leaned over and planted a big wet one right on the top of his nose. "Aw betwer." She said.

"Yep." Nick said taking her from Sara's arms, "Let's get breakfast started. What ya say?"

"Yeah." She squealed as Nick set her back on her feet.

"Nick, I'm going to go feed Alex in the other room. I'll be back when he's done." Sara said kissing Nick on the cheek.

"Okay. We'll being waiting for you."

About thirty minutes later Sara walked back into the kitchen without Alex. Nick was flipping some pancakes in the skillet while Maddie was sitting next to him on the counter kicking the cabinets with her feet.

"Your toes must be feeling better." Nick said looking over at her.

"Yup, yup daddy. Toes hurt no more." Maddie said with a big smile.

"Hey guys." Sara picked Maddie up off the counter, "Why don't you go and dress yourself today. Can you be a big girl and do that for Mommy?" Her and Nick had been talking about gradually letting her do more things on her own. They figured if they started now, then by the time Alex was crawling around she wouldn't need as much help. And if Alex was anything like his big sister when she started crawling, then they were going to need as many hands as possible.

"Biwg gurl!" Maddie said pointing to herself before prancing off like some princess, which made Nick and Sara laugh.

Sara walked over to her husband and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Finally, we're alone."

"Yeah, well not for long." Nick took the pancakes out of the pan and turned off the stove.

"Then you better kiss me."

Nick readily replied, putting his lips to hers. After a few moments the kiss lingered off but the still held onto each other.

"Did Alex decide he was tired?" Nick asked.

"Yeah. He fell asleep before he finished eating."

"That's my guy. Well, at least he'll be rested for today." Nick said squeezing Sara a bit tighter. He loved these moments when they got to send time together, without the kids. Just him and her, like it had been three years ago. Not that he didn't love his kids he did, but sometimes they just needed breaks for sanity reasons.

"Ewww. Mommy. Daddy." Maddie said coming back in to the kitchen after having dressed herself.

Nick and Sara burst out laughing yet again. Maddie was wearing her favorite Texas t-shirt that Nick had bought her on their last trip to Texas; a pink and yellow polka dotted skirt; one black lacy sock and red sneaker; and one solid brown sock and blue sneaker. On her head sat a miniaturized version of the CSI hat that Nick and Sara wore to the crime scenes.

"What? I weady"

"Okay, okay. I'll finish breakfast; honey, you go help her sort that out." Sara said.

"Come on sweety. Let's go." Nick said taking Maddie's hand and leading her down the hallway toward her room.

Sara put butter on all the pancakes, pulled the syrup out, and got everyone something to drink. She carried everything to the table and made a second trip for the plates and silverware. By the time she was finished setting the table, Nick and Maddie came back.

Maddie was still wearing the same shirt and hat, but had on blue jean shorts and matching white socks and shoes.

"That's a lot better. Thanks Nick."

"I guess it might take a little time 'til she's putting on matching clothes." Nick whispered into Sara's ear.

"Well, you didn't expect her to just some how match her clothes perfectly the first time."

"Well, she is her mother's daughter."

They all sat down and started eating. There was light laughter at some of Maddie's comments and a discussion of the day's plans.

Maddie had dubbed today "Awex's Bwig Day". It was his official 'introduction' into the LVPD family, although everyone had already met him and he had been to the lab a couple of times. There was going to be a party and it would be an excuse to stop working for an hour or so and shoot the breeze. Not to mention the last party they had had was the year before when Greg had finally gotten married and before that was when Maddie was born. It was all Catherine's idea and it was her job to get Ecklie to agree to it, which he did after some coaxing.

The family's breakfast was interrupted when Alex woke up. Nick being the only one done decided to go and get him ready.

"Hey, little guy. You ready for your big day?" Nick cooed at his son. In response, Alex stopped crying and smiled at his dad.

Nick took him to the changing table, took his pajamas off and changed his diaper. Then he walked to the dresser to pick out an outfit. He finally choose a little blue one piece that said, "CSI in training" that Nick's mother had bought for him. Nick walked back to the table and put the outfit on Alex. Grabbing some extra diapers off the self and Alex's favorite blanket, Nick took him back into the dining room where Sara and Maddie were just finishing up.

"Nick go get dressed, we are going to be late again." Sara said when she noticed him walk back in.

"Okay" Nick handed Alex to her and turned to head toward their bedroom. Ten minutes later he walked back out. "Alright I'm ready. Let's go."

"Do we have everything?" Sara looked around and grabbed a few things she knew they would need.

"Yup." Nick grabbed Maddie's hand and took the car keys off the end table.

Sara walked out to the car to put Alex in his car seat, while Nick locked the front door. Then, he walked with Maddie to the car the buckled her in too. They drove to the lab with Maddie's version of the Barney song as the only thing being said.


	2. Chapter 2

They finally made it to the lab on time, which didn't happen very often. Nick knew Grissom came to figure out if Nick or Sara were late then they probably had a good reason and it probably had to deal with the kids. But Grissom was able to just look over him and Sara being late like nothing happened.

Sara grabbed Maddie's hand and Nick took Alex out of his car seat, "Come on, little guy."

"Mommy, can I pway wit my toys?" Maddie asked as they entered the building.

"Maybe later, okay? Just make sure you're a good girl." Sara said picking her daughter up and setting her on her hip.

Maddie gave Sara a smile that Sara knew she had inherited from Nick, "I aways good gurl, Mommy."

"Yes, you're are."

"Honey, I think that Alex needs his diaper changed." Nick told Sara while making a face that told her he didn't want to do it.

"Well, take him into the locker room." Sara said giving him a smile.

"But it's your job as Mommy." Nick said with a pout.

"No. My job as Mommy is to feed, clothe, and make sure they eat their veggies. Your job as Daddy would be to change dirty diapers, give them baths when they get filthy, and kiss their boo-boos when they get hurt. I'll be in the break room with Maddie when you're done." With that she turned and walked toward the break room, with the smile still on her face.

"Okay. I guess it's just you and me. But it better not be too nasty." Nick said but all Alex gave him was a huge smile. 'Oh this isn't good.' Nick thought.

Nick walked into the locker room and set Alex down on the bench. He kept a hand on Alex's belly so he didn't try to roll off and grabbed a diaper out of the diaper bag. Nick then went to changing it. As he undid the tabs on the side and started opening the diaper, Nick got a sniff of what was inside and gagged.

Warrick choose that moment to walk in. "All man. That sinks." He said pinching his nose.

"Yeah. You're tellin' me. Some how Sara always knows when he's done something like this." Nick said trying to hurry up and finish the job.

"Well, they don't call her 'Mommy' for nothing."

"It's doesn't mean I can like being put on diaper duty." Nick said gathering up Alex in his arms and picked up the dirty diaper.

"Nick, man you should have thought about that before you got Sara pregnant the first time."

"For your information, we wanted to have kids." Nick said baiting Warrick.

"Man, I didn't say that. I mean those kids are lucky to have you and Sara. They couldn't have asked for better parents." Warrick took the bait: hook, line and sinker.

"Then you wouldn't mind disposing of this." Nick said dropping the dirty diaper in Warrick's open hand.

"All man. Come on."

"Thanks." Nick just walked out of the room leaving Warrick to find the nearest trashcan.

Nick walked back to the break room to see that the party had started and everyone was engaged in some sort of conversation. Sara was talking with Catherine near the coffee machine and from what Nick could hear they were talking about Alex. Grissom was sitting at the table with Archie across from him. Greg was sitting on the couch with Maddie and from the looks of it Maddie was enjoying Greg's sock puppet show. David and Doc Robbins were standing near the veggie tray, talking about coroner stuff and eating the veggies. Brass and Bobby were sitting at the opposite side of the table from Grissom and Archie. By their hand gesturers, Nick figured they were talking about guns.

"Hey guys. It's the man of the hour." Warrick said walking into the break room and putting his arm around Nick.

"Thanks, 'Rick. But this party's for Alex." Nick said as everyone stopped their conversations to look at them.

"Who'd ya think I was talking about, you?" Warrick asked slapping Nick on the back, then walking toward all the food.

"No. Uh, I, uh…" Nick stammered; his ego deflated.

Sara walked over and took Alex from Nick whispering in his ear, "It's okay honey. You're the man of my hour."

Nick didn't say anything; his blush said it all.

Maddie rushed over to fill her father's empty arms as everyone took their turns at holding and talking to Alex.

A couple of hours later, the party was still going strong. Everyone had pulled up a chair and was sitting at the table. Alex was asleep in Catherine's arms and Maddie was sitting in Warrick's lap with her head leaning on his chest. Sara could tell that Maddie wouldn't be awake for long. 'Not after chasing Greg around for the last thirty minutes' Sara thought.

"No, no. I think my favorite was Halloween last year." Brass said, "Greg you were hilarious in that huge pumpkin costume." Everyone laughed at the memory; Greg just blushed.

"Well, you shouldn't have told me that everyone was dressing up." Greg said glaring at Warrick.

"Hey, I couldn't help it. But you did seem a little excited to dress up though." Warrick said defending himself.

"Halloween was my favorite holiday growing up. I once dressed up as a CSI when I was like ten. Who knew it would come true?" Greg could remember begging his mom to let him be a CSI that year. She had argued that he was ten and should dress up as Superman or something. He had countered that he was too old to be dressing up in such childish costumes. She had finally given up and let him wear it.

"What's your favorite holiday, Grissom?" Nick asked.

It didn't take him but a split second to decide, "National Bug Day." Grissom answered.

"When's that?" Catherine asked rolling her eyes.

"August 27th." His tone implied that everyone should have known that date.

"I never knew that there was a 'National Bug Day'." Sara said. She knew Grissom was obsessed with bugs, but to have a whole day set out just for them that was kind of ridiculous.

"Yup. They have a fair and a convention every year in Randsburg, California. I've been once or twice."

"Really, huh. Admit it you've been more than once or twice." Nick said accusingly.

"Okay, okay. I admit it. I've been every other year since I graduated from college. But it's really a lot of fun. You should go with me sometime." Grissom said turning to look at Nick with both his eyebrows raised.

"Uh, I don't think Sara would let me off my fatherly duties to go Gris. I'm sorry." Nick turned toward Sara, who was sitting next to him. He grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze, telling her to pick up where he left off.

Sara decided to do otherwise. "Come on, Nick. Grissom did say it would be fun. Plus, I can handle Maddie and Alex for a day or two by myself. I am their mother."

"But, uh…I, uh." Nick couldn't think of what to say, so he said what came to his head first, "Well, I am their father."

"Coming from the guy who didn't want to change Alex's diaper because he knew it would be a stinker." Sara deadpanned.

Everyone laughed except Nick, who seemed like the comment had hurt his feelings.

"Well, I am you know." Nick muttered under his breath.

"What?" Catherine asked.

"Nothin'. I'll be back." Nick stood and headed out of the break room toward the bathroom.

"I'll go get him." Sara sighed. She walked toward Catherine and took Alex from her. "I'll be back."

Sara followed Nick's path and saw him headed into the men's restroom. She didn't even hesitate as she marched in the bathroom with Alex still sleeping in her arms.

Nick looked up from the sink when he heard someone enter the restroom. Sara was the last person he expected to walk through the door. "You do know you're in the men's bathroom?"

"Yeah. I came to see what's wrong." Sara replied moving Alex to a better position in her arms.

"I just came to use the bathroom."

"Really. 'Cus I can see through your macho exterior, mister." Sara walked to where he was standing and stood next to him.

"Fine." Nick said giving in, "What you said just hurt my feelings."

"Stop pouting. You know we were all kidding. You're their father, no ifs, ands, or buts. Okay?" Sara held out Alex for him to take.

Nick looked down at his son. Their son. He couldn't help but think how much better life was now that he had a family to call his own; now that he had kids; now that he had someone to carry on his name. "Okay." He said reaching out to take Alex in his arms. Then he leaned forward and placed a kiss on Sara's lips.

"Let's go back to the party." Sara took his free hand and together, with Alex still asleep, they walked back toward the break room.

When they arrived at their destination, Nick noticed that Doc Robbins, David, Grissom, Catherine, Brass, and Archie had all left. " Where did everyone go?" He asked.

"A 419 out in Henderson came in and Ecklie told us to get back to work and I quote 'The fun's over'." Warrick answered.

"Okay. I guess since we have today off, we should get going too." Sara walked to where Warrick was still sitting with a now sleeping Maddie. She picked her up and Maddie immediately found a comfortable position in her mother's arms.

"I should go see if Grissom or Cath needs me. Thanks for bringing the kids by." Greg said heading out the door.

"Yeah, thanks. See you guys later." Warrick echoed before he turned and followed Greg.

"We should get these guys home. They're pooped." Nick said looking around to see if they were leaving anything.

"Alright. Let's go." Sara grabbed the diaper bag and walked out ahead of Nick.

They managed to get both sleeping kids in their car seats without waking them before Nick drove them all home.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. It's been crazy with school and everything.

For those of y'all that were confused with my other story ' A Son's Plea' here's some explanation: Yes, Nick is dead (tear) but I don't say how because I left it out for you to come up with a reason why. The last sentence, when it says "It wasn't the first time Sara cried herself to sleep and it wouldn't be the last…" is meant for you to also come up with what happens next, like an open ending.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

By the time that they got home, Sara and Nick were ready for a nap themselves. They didn't get very much sleep between their job and both kids. And very rarely did both Alex and Maddie take naps at the same time, so when they did Nick and Sara jumped all over the chance.

"I think that since both of them are asleep, we should take this to our advantage." Nick stated what they both thinking.

"You're right. Grab Maddie, I'll get Alex and I'll meet you in the bedroom."

"Deal." Nick went to the passenger side of the car where Maddie was and opened the door. He successfully got her out of her seat, into the house and in her bed without waking her up. But as he was walking out of her room she started to awake.

"Daddy?" she asked still in a sleep fog.

"Yes, sweetheart." Nick turned around and walked back to her bed.

" I sweep in your bed? Pwease." She pouted. Nick could tell she was only half asleep and knew that she would probably start crying at any moment.

"Alright. But only for a little while."

By the time Nick picked her up and walked down the hall she was already back asleep.

"Did she not want to sleep in her room?" Sara asked walking into their room.

"No. I think she's just really tired." Nick said as he placed her in the middle of the bed.

"Yeah, me too." Sara walked to her side of the bed and lay down. She leaned over Maddie to kiss Nick who had just crawled in himself. Within five minutes they were both fast asleep.

For the third time that day, Nick awoke to the crying of a baby. He rolled over and cautiously opened one eye. 'One hour. That's it.' He thought. He made the move to get out of bed but was stopped by Sara.

"You got up with him this morning. I'll do it."

Nick didn't argue; he just put his head back on his pillow and fell back asleep.

Meanwhile, Sara had walked across the hall in much the same manner Nick had that morning. She picked up Alex but he didn't stop crying. "Are you hungry?" She asked him, but all she got back was more crying. "Okay, okay. Let's get you fed."

Fifteen minutes later, Sara had Alex fed and sitting in his swing in the living room while she picked up around the house. She opened all the blinds and windows to let some light and fresh air in. After she had swept the kitchen, did the dishes, picked up around the living room and dining room, Sara picked up Alex from his swing and placed him on the rug in the middle of his room. She then went to picking up the nursery. By the time Nick walked in ten minutes later, she had already restocked everything, took Alex's clothes to the laundry room, and folded some of his clean clothes.

"Hey little guy." Nick said picking up Alex.

"Have a nice nap, honey?" Sara asked.

"Yes. It was refreshing."

"Do you think you could take 'em to the park later so I can finish cleaning?" Sara finished folding Alex's clothes and put them in the proper drawers in his dresser.

"Well, what need's to be done?" Nick asked walking to the rocking chair and sitting down.

Sara ticked off the things that needed to be done on her fingers as she said them, "A couple of loads of laundry, our room, Maddie's room and the bathrooms and the office might need a little straightening."

"Why don't you take them to the park and I'll clean house?" Nick asked.

"Nick, do you know where the normal towels go, compared to the guest towels?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, in the linen closet in the hallway."

Sara noticed that Nick seemed proud of himself because he thought he answered the question right, " Wrong." Was her answer and his ego deflated.

"Then where do they go?"

"The guest towels in the cabinet in the spare bathroom and the regular towels in the linen closet." Sara replied making her point. She knew that if she left Nick to clean house, she wouldn't be able to find anything later.

"Okay, so now I know. Guest towels: bathroom closet. Regular ones: linen closet. I'll remember that. What else?"

"As much as I would like to take the kids to the park, if I let you clean up I wouldn't be able to find stuff later." Sara said, stating her earlier thought, " But I really appreciate the offer though."

"It wasn't an offer." Nick said, but when Sara gave one of her 'this isn't up for discussion' glares he gave in, " Okay, I get it. I'll take the kids; you clean house."

"Thanks baby." Sara gave Nick a kiss on the cheek and headed into their room.

Nick stood up and put Alex in his crib, "Stay here, little man, I'll be right back." Alex cooed at him and started sucking on his pacifier. Nick then followed Sara out of the room and across the hall.

"You think I should wait 'till Maddie wakes up to take 'em?" Nick asked lowering his voice as he sat next to her on the bed, as she matched socks.

"No. You should probably wake her up now so she'll sleep tonight." Sara said throwing a matched pair into the basket at her feet.

"Okay. I'll get them ready and then we'll go." Nick stood up and threw a pair he had matched into the basket. "How long do you think you'll need?"

"An hour." Sara threw in another pair.

"Alright." He walked around to the other side of the bed and tried to wake up Maddie up. "Maddie. Maddie." He said shaking her shoulder a little.

"Daddy?" she said in a sleepy haze.

Nick hated waking her up but Sara was right, "Come on honey, get up. I'm going to take you and your brother to the park."

"Weally?" she sat up and Nick noticed that she didn't sound as sleepy as before.

"Really. Your brother is already awake. Come on. Go put your shoes on and meet my in his room."

"Okay." Maddie hopped off the bed and went to her room and Nick headed back into the nursery to get Alex ready.

A minute later, Maddie walked into Alex's room, "Daddy, tie my stwings."

"Sure." Nick bent down and helped tie her laces. Then he turned back to get the diaper ready but he saw that it was already fully stocked, so he headed into the closet to get the stroller. "Maddie, grab Daddy a blanket from Alex's dresser. They're in the bottom drawer." Nick said as he picked up Alex and buckled him into the stroller.

"Okay Daddy."

There were a few moments of silence and Nick wondered what she was doing. "Did you get one honey?" he asked as he turned around. "Oh my." was his reply when he saw what she had done. Maddie had pulled everything out of the bottom drawer looking for a blanket. "Maddie, what did you do?" Nick asked laughingly as he left Alex and walked over to her.

"I look for bwanket Daddy." Maddie said while she continued to rifle through all the things on the floor.

"The one on top would have been fine, sweetheart." Nick handed Maddie the first blanket he came to, "Take this one to your brother."

"Okay." Maddie walked over to Alex and placed the blanket in the stroller, "Here brodder."

"Thanks. Now let's get this stuff put back before you mom blows a gasket." Nick said starting to fold the other blankets and clothes.

"What's gasket?" Maddie asked picking up some stuff and shoving it into the drawer.

"It's a figure of speech."

"What that?"

"Uh…" Nick didn't know how to explain to a three year old what a figure of speech was, but before he could think of something to answer her question Sara walked in.

"What happened in here?" she asked walking over to Nick and Maddie.

"I help Daddy." Was Maddie's reply.

"Oh, so this is a result of Hurricane Maddison."

"Yep." Maddie said sticking her chest out, something Sara knew she got from Nick.

"Well, why don't you leave this to me and y'all can go to the park?"

"You sure, honey." Nick said looking up from folding.

"I'm sure."

"Okay, let's go. See you later." Nick stood up and kissed her.

"See wadur, Mommy." Maddie repeated.

"Bye." Sara said back to the both of them.

Nick went back to the stroller, picked up the diaper bag from where he set it, and started pushing it with one hand as he took one of Maddie's hands in his other.

"Daddy, we pway on swing?" Maddie asked as they walked out the door.

"Sure, Baby. We'll play on everything."


End file.
